Thanks in large part to the Colquitt family, Tennessee Football emerged as Punter-U at one point in the mid-2010s. The Vols may be returning to that with Jackson Ross as he enters his second year punting for UT and may just well be the best in the nation.
A former Australian Rules Football player, Ross was a redshirt freshman in 2023 and averaged 42.5 yards per punt. Of his 55 punts, 22 pinned opponents inside the 20-yard line, and according to UT special teams coach Mike Ekeler, 17 of those pinned opponents inside the 10, earning Freshman All-SEC.
“Jackson Ross is one of the most amazing punters I’ve ever been around,” Ekeler said. “This guy, legitimately, we built a system around him, and it’s been hand-in-hand around his skills set.”
Reportedly all of Ross’ 14 pooch punts in scrimmages have pinned teams on the six, and 12 have pinned them on the four. He referred to Ross as a “lethal” weapon, and it’s clear this guy can be a deadly advantage for Rocky Top if drives stall, particularly near midfield.
“We’ve got a lot of things that we’ve put in, in this offseason, that I’m beyond excited to roll out there, so what’s next about him is just having that year of experience,” Ekeler said.
Here’s the one problem with this: the Vols don’t want to rely on the punt game as much as they did last year. In 2023, Josh Heupel’s offense had trouble moving the ball, so this had to be a weapon in the game. It was in their 20-13 win over the Texas A&M Aggies with a great punt by Ross and a punt return touchdown by Williams.
Injuries and Joe Milton III not being a fit for Heupel’s offense forced him to coach in a way he never had before, and that was the first game he ever won not scoring at least 30 points. This year, with Nico Iamaleava, the expectations are vastly different.
UT is going to want to finish many more drives and at least get into field goal range when drives stall. Also, because Heupel tries to score in six plays or less, he likely will have fewer drives stall that call for a short punt. Tennessee Football will either have touchdown drives or punts from deep in his territory.
At that point, punt coverage becomes key, and it may be as important as what Ross is doing this year. This has always been a point of emphasis for Ekeler, whose unit gave up just four total punt return yards all of last season. He said it’s all about technique on that front.
“These guys buy in,” he said. “They get it. They see it every single day. Every drill we do makes them better as a football player, and it transfers over.”
It is true that the advantages of the offense can be nullified real quickly if there are lots of returns for touchdowns. After all, at the end of the day, Heupel and Tennessee Football are going to have to punt the ball sometimes, and the Vols’ elite punt coverage will be a factor then.
Part of what Ekeler has done has been to show his unit former Vols like Dee Williams, Theo Jackson and Jaylen McCollough earning roster spots in the NFL specifically because of their value on special teams. He didn’t shy away from selling making the pros to them.
“All these guys that have been their teammates, and they see it, and they want it because ultimately they want to be the best player they can be right now, and they want to play this game as long as they can, and they get the fact that your skills set, that’s all you’ve got, so your knowledge, your technique, either you’ve got it or you don’t,” he said. “When you get to the NFL, you’re standing up there, if you don’t got it, they’re going to tap you on your shoulder and tell you to tap your playbook and go see the head ball coach. These guys would like to keep their playbook, and we talk to them in that sense and challenge them.”
Then, of course, there is the return game in punting. Last year, Tennessee Football had 259 return yards. Squirrel White, Jermod McCoy, Boo Carter and Cameron Seldon are all options to return punts with Williams gone. Ekeler, not shying away from his expectations, emphasized that by the start of the season this will be the Vols’ best unit.
“Our guys understand what we’re asking from them,” he said. “Each year, we push the envelope to get better.”
Maybe that’s true for the entire punt game. If Heupel gets his way, though, it’ll be irrelevant anyway. Special teams, while an advantage if done right, won’t carry Tennessee Football to its goal of dropping 60 points on every team it faces this season.
